Jacob kinzer



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'Lettera Patent No. 80,974, datedl August 11, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVERSIBLE LATcEEs.

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' TO ALL WHOM IT MAYCONGERN: l

Be it known that I, JACOB KINZER, of the city of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Method of Constructing Reversible'Iiocks; and I hereby'declare A thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference Vbeing had to" the accompanying drawings, makinga part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective of the lock witb'the entire plate removed. Figure 2, a face view of the same complete. Figure 3, n. face View with the upper portion of the plate taken oil', showing the arrangement of the latchbolt and follower; and

' Figure 4 the same as iig. 3, with the latch-bolt removed.

Like letters refer to the same parts in the diierent drawings. l The manufacture of locks is so well understood that I need only describe such parts of this lock as dier from those now in ordinary use, and have sonie bearing on my' invention. Nearly all varieties of locks are now made with one of the slides erplates of the case attached, and removable by the use of one or more screws; and locks are made reversible by having the latch-bolt so arranged that when the plate is removed, the bolt can be turned with its bevel to either side, as may be desired, butl in so doing, all the springs and bolts inside the lock are left exposed and loose, as seen in iig.1, and are liable' to iiyvnut and be lost,` and so much trouble `and con-' fusion are thereby caused in taking out and reversing the latch-bolt, that locks so constructed have never gone into general use. I

The object of my invention is to provide a. lock which may be adapted to doors opening either to the right handorthe left, by simply reversing vthe latch-bolt C, without exposing or displacing any other of the inside works of the lock.j' Y

For this purpose, I dividerthe plate A intwo parts, a I), the lower one of which, b, is made to extend over and cover -the lock-bolt and its springs, the slide-bolt (if one is used) andits springs, and the spring B, which operates the latch-bolt C. This portion of the plate is'held in its place by the screw F. The` upperportion a of the'plate-A is properly fitted to the line or upper edge of the p art b, and is made to cover` the latch-bolt C and its `follower D only. It isfastened tothe case by the screw E, and may be remore-d at vpleasure by simply taking out the screw. vThe spring B which operates the latch-bolt C, ismad-e of i suitable material and shape, and isbent ory coiled around .the lug or projection c, which I form on'the inside of the case, and below the upper line of the lower part of thc plate A. At asuitable distance above, and to the right of this lug 0,1 form another lug or projection d,for the spring B to rest against, and be retained in its proper position when the latch-bolt C is takenout to be reversed. The latch-bolt Gand its followerD may be made according to any suitable and well-known plan. i v

The lock being thus constructed and put together, when it is desired to reverse its action, all the laborv that is requiredv isto take oii the upper part a of the plate A, turn the latch-bolt C and its follower D to the proper -side,as seen in'iigs and 4, and replace the plate a, the-spring B being kept in its place bythe arrangement of it described, aswell as the other worksof thelock, no parts of which, except those that require changing, being at all exposed or disturbed. This method ofmaking locks reversible, is equally applicable to caselo'cks,l or to locks which are fitted to the side of the'door, and to mortise-locks or locks, which are set into the I edgeof the door. A i I Having thus described the nature and use of my invention, what `I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i v I Constructing the plate A of a reversible lock Ain two pieces, in the manner shown and described, and. operating in combinationwith the latch-bolt C'and spring B, which latter is confined in the lower part of the casing of the lock, in the manner shown and for the purpose set forth.

JACOB KINZEB.

Witnesses J. H. BALDWIN, J. B. BLACK. 

